


PKMN

by BeyoncesThighGap



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, RWBY
Genre: Elite Four AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon AU, Slow Burn, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:26:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeyoncesThighGap/pseuds/BeyoncesThighGap
Summary: After the loss of their mother Ruby and Yang have vowed to make their parents proud by following in their footsteps and becoming members of the Elite Four, a group of powerful trainers who work to protect the region of Remnant and aid the regional Champion in their sworn duty to serve and defend the Pokemon League. They, along with six others and the new champion, rise through the rankings and advance to the Elite Four training camp where they will learn the ropes of specialized pokemon battles and what it truly means to be a trainer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Raiyu and WeissColdGlare for being my hypemen and helping me stay excited about this. I love y'all loads, so this one's for y'all.

Ruby stares in shock at the field before her, eyes jumping around the various clouds of dust blocking her faithful partner from view. The harsh energy from the middle of the battlefield explodes outwards in an example of pure power, causing harsh winds to whip around the arena. Raising her elbow to shield her eyes, Ruby feels her red cloak billowing out behind her and she digs her heels into the rough ground in an effort to stay rooted. She glances at the scoreboard above her and curses softly at the five empty slots beneath her name, with a familiar red armored figure directly lit up under her picture. Her opponent’s half of the board mimics hers, with one lone slot still emitting light.

They’d been fighting for what felt like hours, Ruby thought with a huff, sweat falling from her forehead from a combination of nerves and exhaustion. She really needed to win this battle; she’d been training for years for this exact moment. Ruby closes her eyes tightly and shoots up a silent prayer to Arceus, Mew, and every other deity she can think of.

Suddenly, the faint sound of wings beating against each other can be heard, and Ruby nearly screams in excitement. On the battlefield is her trusted Scizor, snapping his pincers together menacingly and letting out a victorious cry of his name as the referee throws up his flag in Ruby’s favor. As the dust slowly settles, the trainer can make out her opponent’s knocked out pokemon and she hears the dull roar of the crowd as she runs to embrace her pokemon.

“We did it!” She shouts happily, jumping up to reach the shoulders of the tall bug so she could bring him down for a hug. Scizor hums happily and nuzzles his trainer’s head, nodding excitedly at her shout of “We’re advancing!”

\---

Pale eyebrows furrow in concentration as she fingers the pokeballs on her belt nervously, a habit she picked up as a child. She knew her father was in the audience watching and she could not afford to lose this battle. If she loses here after coming so close to victory- no. She will not allow herself to continue this train of thought.

Shaking her head and regarding her partner once more, who was doing a fine job of battling on his own to make up for his trainer’s wandering mind, Weiss whistles to gain her pokemon’s attention. Tail feathers flick in acknowledgement as her trusted partner dive bombs his opponent one last time before retreating to the safety of the sky.

“Dragon pulse, Altaria!” The trainer shouts, smiling as her pokemon opens his beak and fires the attack almost instantaneously.

Their opponent falls and Weiss exhales in relief. She’d had the upper hand nearly the entire battle, but she knew it was critical that she make a good impression on the crowd and League members scattered throughout the crowd. Weiss waves to the cheering crowd as her Altaria flies a lap around the stadium and sings victoriously, being the show off that he is.

 _Well_ , Weiss thinks with a hint of laughter. _Father always did say leaving the Contest community was a mistake._

Raising her hand above her head to signal Altaria, Weiss lowers herself into a modest curtsy to thank the crowd for their support. The audience seems to love the showmanship and rewards her with raucous cheering, bringing a smile to Weiss’s lips. Landing elegantly on her shoulder and cooing as he nuzzles her head, Altaria preens when Weiss raises a hand to begin stroking his plumage. Turning to thank the referee and regard her downed opponent politely, Weiss and Altaria make their way out of the arena.

\---

Golden eyes regard her opponent’s last remaining pokemon coolly, waiting for a weak point to present itself to her and her partner. Blake watches her persian stalk slow circles around its opponent, firing off the occasional shadow ball to keep the other pokemon at bay. She can tell that the other pokemon is nearing its limits, but it refuses to back down. If it were another time in another life, Blake figures she’d try to claim that pokemon for her boss.

Shaking her head roughly to rid the poisonous memories that plague her, Blake turns her attention towards the battle and her partner. The beige fur of her persian’s coat is nearly spotless from a successful battle, and the trainer knows her cat will be more than happy with the results. The moment Blake spots a falter in her opponent’s judgement, she calls out a final “Slash!” that successfully ends the battle in her favor.

Ignoring the crowd’s excitement momentarily, she clicks her tongue quietly to call her pokemon back to her side, rubbing behind his ears the way he likes as a reward for a battle well fought. Low rumbles leave his chest, showing his appreciation for Blake’s ministrations. She thanks her opponent for the battle and nods at the ref once the flag that was raised in her victory has been dropped again. She makes sure to walk over and shake his hand, knowing that refereeing is tiring work in big name competitions like this one.

An appreciative roar arises from the stands and Blake jumps a little as she regards the crowd in shock at their volume, forgetting for a moment that they were there. She shoots them all a bashful smile paired with a small wave, wincing when their volume increases once more with their excitement at being acknowledged. Her persian grumbles unhappily at the noise and bumps his head against her legs to get her moving, making Blake laugh a little at his antics. The duo makes their way to the battle tunnel quickly and quietly, disappearing into the shadows.

\---

Yang glances onto the field and yawns widely, shouting out a lazy command of “hyper beam” to her companion. She’s had the battle won since the moment she stepped into the battle box, both she and her opponent knew it. Yang felt kind of bad for the kid, but she wasn’t about to let the feelings of pity get in the way of her battling.

She hears the young boy she’s fighting begging their pokemon to dodge and grins victoriously as it is blasted out of bounds, causing the referee to throw his flag up with a shout of “The winner is Yang Xiao Long from Patch!”

Walking up to the hulking form of her Ursaring, Yang reaches up a hand and begins scratching along her neck, causing the large pokemon to let loose happy rumbles. As the pair stands in the middle of the field, Yang watches the kid she just defeated walk up to her with hunched shoulders. The wave of sympathy crashes over her again, and Yang makes sure to whisper a quick “thank you for the battle” before extending her hand.

She smiles good naturedly at the small quirk of lips on her opponent’s face and shakes his hand, much to the approval of the crowd. Yang turns and waves at them happily, nudging her pokemon to coax it into mimicking her trainer’s movements. The bear huffs but indulges her trainer, waving with what appears to be a smile on her maw. After turning and bowing at the referee in thanks, she recalls her faithful partner and begins walking towards the tunnel that lead back to the waiting rooms.

She has to find her sister.

\---

Ruby is nearly vibrating with excitement when Yang enters the waiting area, whooping and jumping into her sister’s arms. Yang spins her a few times, laughing happily, before she sets Ruby down with a goofy grin once she begins shouting.

“Yang, we did it! We’re advancing to the training camp!”

“Was there ever any doubt that we wouldn’t?” Yang asked with a wink, snorting slightly when Ruby huffs at her in response.

“C’mon, Yang. You know how nervous I get before battles. This is a chance for us to live up to Mom and Dad’s legacies,” Ruby grumbles, poking her index fingers together as a sign of her nerves. “I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Smiling softly at her sister, Yang reaches over to ruffle her hair good naturedly. “No way that we’d ever disappoint them; Dad has mentioned before that we’re almost better than they were when they were in the Elite Four. We’re the Sunrise Sisters! D’ya know what that means?”

“We kick ass and take names?” Ruby asks, a smile blooming onto her face at the childish motto.

“We kick ass and take names!” Yang cheers, pulling her sister into the crook of her arm and messing up her hair some more. Remembering that they were at a League event and should have better etiquette than rough housing in the waiting room, Yang pulls back slightly to whisper in her sister’s ear. “We should probably start mingling, though. Not only are everyone in this room competition for the next three weeks, but they’re our potential teammates.”

Exhaling shakily at the thought of interacting with all of the powerful trainers gathered in the room, even though there were only two others besides the sisters present, Ruby nodded once and Yang flashed her a comforting smile. Swooping down to peck her forehead, Yang nudged Ruby towards the door. “Try talking to the next person who walks into the room.”

Shaking her hands out and bouncing on the balls of her toes to mentally prepare herself, Ruby started chanting “I can do this, I can do this,” under her breath. A small tremor starts from the left side of her hip before a loud ‘pop’ makes itself known. Materializing next to Ruby stands her oldest and most loyal partner; Jolteon. Figuring that the pokemon was summoned due to his trainer’s worries, Ruby crouches and begins to scratch along his white mane, seeking comfort in the small shocks that zapped her on occasion and the static hum that faintly sounded from her partner’s fur.

“Hey buddy,” Ruby murmures soothingly, placing her forehead against his. “I’m sorry to worry you.” A high pitched whine and a lick to her cheek are his response, and Ruby nods along to the wisdom of her pokemon. “Yeah, I know. The team _did_ do great, it was just nerve-wracking to be in front of all those people. Knowing that the E4 camp won’t have an audience makes me feel loads better, but now we have to worry about impressing the Elites, the Champion, and each other.”

Distracted by her conversation with Jolteon, Ruby failed to notice the trainer that entered the room until her partner let out a low grumble of warning, his fur standing on end and crackling dangerously. Turning to look over her shoulder, Ruby sees a boy around Yang’s age approaching the pair, his hands up and outwards in a gesture of peace. His blonde hair is tousled messily, blue eyes darting between Ruby and Jolteon nervously. His jeans and black hoodie are worn from months of travelling, but he seems harmless enough and not at all like a potential Elite Four member.

“Sorry, uh,” The boy starts, halting a few feet away once Jolteon’s growling started to increase in volume. “I just wanted to know if you were, um, _talking_ to your pokemon?”

Flushing slightly, Ruby nods. “I, um,” She starts, before realizing she is still crouched on the floor. Reaching over to lift Jolteon gently, Ruby rises to her full height to better conversate with the boy in front of her. “I’m sorta bad with people. Conversations, I mean! It’s just so much easier to talk to pokemon because they don’t judge you for stuttering or saying the wrong thing or talking too much.” Already used to the weird looks she sometimes got when she explained her reasoning, Ruby grins bashfully at the boy in front of her and shrugs.

-

Growing up on a small island with her sister and father, there wasn’t exactly a lot of human interaction going on. The town of Patch had only a handful of small houses scattered throughout it, with Ruby and Yang being the only children on the island. All of the older kids had either left on their journeys or were way too old to even consider humoring Ruby for some play time.

What Patch lacked in humans, it sure made up for in pokemon. They were everywhere, and more than willing to play with Ruby and Yang from time to time. While the sisters weren’t allowed to leave without at least one of their parents pokemon for protection, they hardly ever needed to worry.

Once the pair got a little older and were gifted with their own partners, they devoted all of their time to training. They got their joint nickname, the Sunrise Sisters, because they would rise with the sun to start their days training and wreaking havoc. Considering Taiyang was a widowed father, he originally struggled to keep up with the pair.

When they showed a keen interest in battling, he took them under his wing and helped turn them into the powerhouses they were today. Ruby and Yang took to battling like a ducklett takes to water, and Taiyang was thrilled. He started to instill to them all of the knowledge they would need to become ace trainers or even gym leaders, but one fateful day, the Sunrise Sisters stopped their father cold in his tracks.

“We wanna be Elite Four members, like you and mama!”  
-

Silver eyes blink in confusion when Jaune thrust his hand out towards her, grinning warmly. “I never properly introduced myself. The name’s Jaune, and I totally get what you mean about pokemon being easier to talk to than people.”

Excited at the prospect of making friends like Yang had asked her to do, Ruby adjusted her hold on her pokemon and shook Jaune’s hand firmly. “Ruby Rose, and this is my partner Jolteon.”

Jaune smiled at Ruby and reached down to pluck a pokeball from his belt. Pressing the center button to enlarge it, he shows it to Ruby before directing a fond gaze at it. “In here is my partner Tauros. He used to live with us on the family farm, but he was too rowdy for the other tauros and miltank. When I was ready to start my journey, my parents gave him to me because I was just about the only person he’d listen to.” Looking up at Ruby and shaking his head, he minimized his pokeball and places it on his belt once more. “All of my sisters and I had to work on the farm. I felt outnumbered a lot of the times and would hide in the stables or walk around the fields to get some alone time. Some days it felt like the pokemon were the only ones who really understood me.”

Nodding excitedly, Ruby opened her mouth to answer before Jolteon leapt nimbly out of her arms with an excited yip. Letting her jaw snap up, Ruby shot Jaune a quick glance before apologizing. “I’m sorry, he probably caught sight of my sister and wants to play. He didn’t get to battle much today.”

Waving the girl off, Jaune stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around at the large room. “It’s fine. Which one is she?”

Hearing Jolteon’s yips grow more excited followed by Yang’s laughter, Ruby pointed out the blonde duo on the other side of the room. Jolteon was pushing himself between Yang’s calves and butting his head against her knees in an effort to gain her attention. The dark haired girl who Yang was talking to looked amused at Jolteon’s antics, and her golden eyes roamed the room looking for the stray pokemon’s trainer.

Making their way towards the trio, Ruby huffs and removed Jolteon’s pokeball from her belt threateningly. “What did we say about running off, huh?”

Jolteon’s ears droop in response, and he slinks towards Ruby to paw at her shoes in apology. Letting out the occasional sad yip to try and gain his trainer’s forgiveness, Jolteon looked up at Ruby with his version of baby doll eyes. Ruby laughs at the dramatics of her partner before opening her arms in invitation. Yellow ears perk up immediately and the pokemon leapt into Ruby’s arms, rubbing his muzzle against her cheek and causing her messy hair to frizz up.

“Blake, this is my sister Ruby and her Jolteon,” Yang said with a smile, before tilting her head at her companion. “Rubes, this is Blake. She advanced to the camp, too.”

Blowing hair out of her eyes, Ruby lets her eyes run over Blake before they brightened in recognition. She recognized the dark clothing and large bow from the screens that were littered around the waiting room. Not wanting to be rude, she motioned Jaune forward. “This is Jaune, his partner is a tauros. Jaune, this is my sister Yang and her partner is a charizard.”

Chuckles erupted from the group surrounding Ruby and she felt her ears heat up. Did she say something wrong? Mispronounce a word? No, she’d hardly said anything! She was too excited over the prospect of asking Blake what she fed her pokemon to get their coats so shiny when she realized it- she’d introduced Jaune and Yang along with their partners pokemon, which was usually a strange thing to do unless a trainer already had them out of their pokeballs.

Uncomfortable with her social blunder, Ruby opens her mouth to correct it before Blake turns to Jaune with a tiny smile gracing her features. “Hello, I’m Blake. My partner is a liepard.” The dark girl turned to Ruby and let her smile widen a bit. “Yang tells me that you have a knack for communicating with pokemon.”

Nodding shyly, Ruby hides some of her face behind Jolteon’s lithe frame. Blake was so intimidating! Yang was always amazing at making friends, though, so it shouldn’t surprise Ruby that she’d managed to make one so quickly. Mustering up her courage, she let her eyes drop to Blake’s belt before averting her gaze to golden eyes.

“You fought before Yang and your last pokemon was a persian, right?”

Nodding once at the words, Blake lets another small smile slip loose before enlarging a pokeball. “Would you like to meet him?"

“Yes!” Ruby shouts, startling Jolteon and gaining a nip for her volume. Growing sheepish once more and glancing at Yang for the go ahead, she whispers “yes please,” and lets her partner hop onto the ground once again.

A ‘click’ echoes through the room, and a beam of light shoots from the ball in Blake’s hand. A bulky quadruped begins to take form, and once the large persian has solidified Blake reattaches the ball to her belt. Rubbing her hand against her partner’s head, Blake drops to her knees in an effort to get on the same level as her pokemon and begins speaking softly.

Glancing around the room to see that there is only one other occupant in the room, a girl with long snowy hair who is intently watching a match, Ruby decides it’s okay to forgo etiquette and drops to the floor as well. She tugs at Jaune’s jeans and waves at Yang, trying to get everyone at eye level with the new pokemon so as not to spook it.

Jaune lets out a puff of air as he lowers himself to his knees, and Yang quickly follows suit. Once they are all sitting in a messy circle, with Jolteon staying by Ruby’s side, Blake rests on her haunches and directs a grin towards Ruby.

“This is one of my best friends, Persian.” Blake begins to point each of them out then, and Ruby watches as keen eyes follow their trainer’s finger in an effort to grasp what she’s saying. “This is Yang, Jaune, Ruby, and her Jolteon.”

Waiting with bated breath, Ruby feels a smile begin to bloom on her face when she and Persian lock eyes. After a few seconds, the large cat huffs and pushes his head against Blake’s fondly, meowing loudly as if talking to her. Blake pushes back lightly against Persian’s head, and Ruby is reminded of how Pyroar butt heads to show affection within a pride. Blake looks back at the assembled group and keeps her expression flat, but Ruby can see the mirth in her eyes.

“He says he can’t wait to battle you all at the upcoming camp.”

Explosive laughter leaves Yang then, and Ruby watches with interest as her sister and Blake exchange a heated glance. “Oh you are _so_ on, kitty.”

Reaching out with an upwards facing palm, Ruby presents her hand towards Persian to see if the large pokemon will allow her to pet him. He glances over at her and sniffs her palm, looking towards Jolteon and rumbling deep within his chest. It almost sounds as if he’s asking Jolteon permission to let Ruby pet him, and Ruby is surprised. Having never seen her pokemon interact with any other than Yang or her father’s outside of battle, she is intrigued by this display of respect. Jolteon yips once sharply at Persian and then Ruby feels smooth fur and a warmth rest itself on her hand.

Directing her attention towards the mass of beige fur, Ruby quickly begins inspecting the pokemon in front of her. His coat is beautiful, his claws long and sharp, and his teeth seem clean and strong. The jewel on his forehead shines brightly, almost seeming to throb with energy. Satisfied with what she has learned about Blake from her pokemon, she scratches the cat a few times under his chin. A loud purr erupts from Persian immediately and he leans heavily into Ruby’s touch, causing the group to laugh. Ruby shoots Yang an excited grin and the blonde smiles back, reaching for her belt.

“D’ya think Charizard would like to come out and play too?”

Snapping her head towards her sister as Jolteon begins to bark excitedly at the thought of his friend, Ruby shouts “Yang no!” just as the older girl releases the inhabitant of her pokeball. Jaune emits a high pitched scream immediately, scooting away from the red light and what it holds.

Where Ruby expects to see her sister’s large lizard stand instead lays a small ball of beige fluff. Recognizing the snoozing shape immediately, Ruby huffs out a laugh at Yang’s poor joke.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t Charizard normally supposed to be huge fire breathing dragons?” Jaune asked, peeking around where he’d hid behind Jolteon’s amused frame. “Am I missing something?”

Snorting, Yang reached over to rouse the sleeping pokemon that she’d summoned. Triangular ears began twitching as cuffed limbs extended from the mass of fur in a leisurely stretch. Blinking slowly, Yang’s primeape blearily regards the gathered mass in front of her before snapping awake. Rushing forward to barrel into Yang, unhappy with being awoken, the girl expertly catches her pokemon with a small grunt. “Nah. While Charizard would have loved to meet some people, he’s way too big for this little room. This little lady is the only one I could safely release in a room with low ceilings.”

Taking offense to being called ‘little,’ Primeape childishly stomped away from Yang to crawl into Ruby’s lap, grunting all the way as if complaining. Ruby laughed and began to pat her soothingly, hearing Jolteon snort from his position next to her.

“Guys, meet Primeape. She’s a real powerhouse when she isn’t sleeping the day away,” Yang introduced with a fond grin. “She’s one of my oldest partners and one of the only ones I can actually let out in public.”

“She’s remarkably well trained for a primeape,” Blake murmured thoughtfully, eyes jumping over Primeape’s features. “How did you get her to be so docile?”

“I beat her in a wrestling match.”

At the shocked silence that followed, Yang and Ruby let out twin peals of laughter. Amber and blue eyes skip over the sisters skeptically, waiting for one of them to say ‘just kidding!’

“A-are you serious?” Jaune questions, regarding the huffy pig monkey pokemon. He motions towards the pokemon’s bulging biceps and chokes out, “You _beat_ her in a wrestling match?!”

“Ask her yourself!” Yang shot back cheekily, smiling at her pokemon. Without having a visible mouth under her pig nose, she sure did a good job of pouting. “Tell them who won our battle, bud.” Low rumbling left the mass of beige fur as she raised a stocky hand and pointed towards Yang unhappily. The trainer’s smile widened and she cooed softly, opening her arms for the pig monkey to crawl into. “Aw, I know, I’m sorry. We’ll have a rematch someday soon.”

Ruby turns and sees Jaune’s jaw hanging limp, and she chokes back a snort. “She rough houses with all of her pokemon. Beating them in some kind of battle or other is the easiest way to get them to accept you as their trainer.”

“Yeah, but isn’t physically fighting one sort of dangerous?” Blake cut in, eyeing Yang and her partner with bemusement. “Pokemon are biologically a lot stronger than any human. Even a magikarp could probably break a bone or two if they jumped on you hard enough.”

Yang shrugs, resting her chin on Primeape’s head. “I dunno. I think one of the best ways to gain your pokemon’s acceptance is to show that you’ll never put them through something you wouldn’t put yourself through.” She motions to Ruby and Jolteon then, lips quirking slightly as the electric fox crawls under the tail of Ruby’s blood red cape to rest. “It’s just the way we were raised. Ruby races her pokemon and does lots of endurance training with them. I wrestle and do weight training with mine, bringing us all closer as a team and a family.”

Jaune opens his mouth to respond before excited shouting reaches their assembled group. They all turn towards the source of the sound, a short red head babbling excitedly at a tall man with long, flowing black hair. The pair are dressed in outfits that contrast heavily, with the man’s being conservative and loose where the girl’s is tight and colorful. Although he isn’t saying much to his companion, he is regarding her with a calm smile and nods occasionally to her chatter. The strange duo cross the threshold into the waiting area and glance over in Ruby’s direction, startling her slightly. The redhead’s bright blue eyes seem to shine impossibly brighter at the sight of pokemon outside of their balls and drags her friend with her, tugging lightly on his sleeve.

“Hi!” The redhead chirps, beaming at the seated trainers. “I’m Nora, and this is Ren. We watched some of your battles before we had to go on, and you guys were amazing!” Her voice lilts on the last word, drawing out the syllables in a way that sounds similar to singing. Her gaze catches on Jaune, eyes scanning his face. “You’re the boy with that super powerful Tauros, aren’t you?”

He gapes at Nora for a few seconds, shocked at being recognized. Jaune nods once firmly before he stands, offering both her and then Ren his hand. “I’m Jaune. This is Ruby and her jolteon, Blake and her persian, and Yang and her primeape.”

Ren inclines his head to the group, reaching for a pokeball hanging from a chain around his neck. “Hello, everyone. As Nora said, I’m Ren and this,” he pauses, releasing the pokemon from its confinement “is my partner, Clefable.”

Silver eyes dance excitedly across the new pokemon, taking in the healthy sheen to its coat and rosy color of its wings. Ruby wants to reach out and touch the happy fairy type but before she can open her mouth to ask Ren if she can, the pokemon is already skipping over to her. Its ears constantly swivelling to catch various inaudible sounds, it reaches out to Ruby with a happy trill of its name. Looking over at Ren to see if it’s okay and getting a steady nod, Ruby settles onto her knees and reaches out to meet Clefable halfway. Ruby’s fingertip meets the blunt edge of Clefable’s claw and she feels a small jolt travel through her arm, different from Jolteon’s usual zaps of electricity. The sensation that rushes through her is somehow warm and elated, although the feeling is not her own, reminding Ruby of the excitement she feels when she wins a battle.

At the awed look Ruby is sure she must be sporting, Ren chuckles lightly. “That’s Clefables way of communicating. She’s a very affectionate pokemon, so she learned to channel her feelings into energy waves transferable through touch.”

“That is so cool!” Yang says, turning towards Nora and nearly hopping in place. “Do you have a partner small enough to release in here?”

“No,” Nora sighs, tapping each of her pokeballs individually. “My pokemon are all a little too big and excitable to be released in a room this small.”

“Maybe we can sneak out of the arena and onto an empty battlefield? Isn’t Beacon Stadium supposed to have loads?” Ruby pipes up, rising to stand. “We could show off some of our bigger pokemon and maybe have a battle or two?” Once the group seems more than interested in the idea, she recalls Jolteon and sets the pokeball back on her belt.

“I think I remember passing by a field on my way here,” Blake says thoughtfully, standing to join Ruby. “It’s not a bad idea.”

Red beams and popping sounds fill the room as the remaining pokemon are recalled to their rightful balls. Watching the gathered group rise from their positions on the floor and begin to walk to the door, Ruby turns and shoots a beaming smile at Yang over her shoulder. She did it! She made friends, just like Yang’d asked her to!

Ruby’s thought process stopped when she felt herself collide into another body, a rush of breath escaping past her lips due to the sudden impact. Turning and expecting to apologize to Jaune or Blake, Ruby is shocked to see the lone trainer who was watching matches earlier. The girl is short, shorter than Ruby at least, and has a long ponytail of white hair cascading down her back. She’s beautiful, and has eyes bluer than any Ruby has ever seen, and has furrowed brows and is glaring right at her-

Wait. Glaring?

“What are you doing?” The new girl asks, looking Ruby up and down disdainfully. “You could have knocked me over! Aren’t you a little _young_ to be back here?”

Shocked at the aggressiveness this girl is displaying, Ruby flounders for an answer and looks back and forth between her friends and the girl in front of her. “I-I’m sorry?”

“Are you even a serious trainer? The Elite Four isn’t all fun and games, you know. They fight crime and are some of the region’s strongest trainers!”

Ruby is panicking now, unsure as to why this girl is getting so upset over such a little bump. “I’m really, really sorry!” She makes eye contact with Yang then, and the older girl looks just as bewildered as Ruby feels.

“Ugh, you complete dolt. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to watch where you were going?”

Ice floods through Ruby’s veins at the words, and she can feel the anger rolling off of Yang in waves from her place a few feet behind her. Upset at the audacity of this girl, Ruby growls out a low, “Hey, I said I was sorry, _princess_.”

“It’s heiress, actually,” Blake cuts in, walking up to Ruby’s side. She places a soothing hand against her shoulders, and Ruby realizes just how tense they’d become. “Weiss Schnee, ex-coordinator and heiress to the Schnee-Devon Corporation, one of the largest pokeball manufacturers and pokemon revival companies in the world.”

Ruby watches Weiss’s face fall in shock for a moment, and flicker of something akin to panic cause her blue eyes to light up and begin bouncing over the assembled group. She opens her mouth to respond to Blake before the brunette soldiers on, cutting off whatever response Weiss was bound to have.

“The same company infamous for its trio of heirs, otherwise known as The Schnee Three in the contesting world. The two eldest Schnee children were said to abandon their life of coordinating in favor of battling, and rumor has it that their claim to the company was revoked when they left.”

Yang, Nora, Ren, and Jaune are silent with gaping jaws, glancing back and forth quickly between the trio before them. Ruby can still feel the cold glare etched onto her face and decides that she’d be better off ranting to Jolteon later than wasting any more time on the rude girl in front of her. Turning back to her friends and waving Blake along, she grumbles “C’mon, guys. I still wanna meet all of your partners and squeeze in a few battles before we have to go.”

Ruby decides then and there, after casting a quick glance behind her at Weiss’s small frame, that she and her team will not be bested by Weiss Schnee.


	2. Chapter 2

The Elite Four.

Some of the most powerful trainers that any region had at their disposal; warriors who joined their beasts of the earth, sea, and sky in battle against those who wished to inflict harm upon the innocent. Four trainers who protected and served under their Champion, otherwise known as the most powerful trainer in their respective region. The Elite Four and the Champion are all agents of the Pokemon League, more commonly recognized as the people who oversee each regional League and are in charge of keeping the peace.

Contrary to popular belief, the League didn’t only organize competitions and ensure that battle/contest rules were being followed. They were in charge of protecting the people of their regions from each other, ensuring that laws were being followed by all residents. They were some of the first responders to chaos and natural disasters- from wild pokemon battles that got too intense, to missing people and/or pokemon cases. They were the police, the doctors, and the army of every region. And with every army comes the war that they are trained to fight.

Every child who strives to be Champion someday learns of the Elite Four and what they stand for. Pillars of stone and steel that stand on the path to Champion, ensuring that only the best and brightest are able to claw their way to the top. Many a trainer have been turned away once they reach the end of Victory Road; unable to best the Elites, they are sent back home with a flippant “come back when you’re ready.”

Only the strong could survive and conquer in this world where monsters lurked around every corner, and not everyone was who they said they were.

Once every member of the Elite Four grew old and battle worn, or were just tired of battling, the League stepped in. They held a tournament to sort through thousands of trainers, plucking only the best and brightest to attend a special camp. Three weeks, not including travel time, of gruelling battling, lessons, and tests given to the trainees by the Elite Four and current Champion. Anywhere from four to ten trainers could make their way to the camp, with only four obtaining the titles of Elite Four members.

It was very rare that all four members of the Elites were getting ready to retire all at once, and even rarer still that the Champion was considering to retire as well. In situations like this, the training camp had to be rethought and redone to provide for potential champions. In the region of Remnant, one could not become Champion by simply beating their predecessor in battle. Too many ignorant or immature trainers had fought their way to the tops of other regions and thrown their economy into freefall, no one properly preparing them for what the title of ‘Champion’ truly meant. In the situation of retiring or departed Champions, potential successors are usually plucked from those attending the Elite Four Training Camp, or at least thrown into the mix without letting the trainees know who among them was their future leader.

There was no minimum or maximum age to attend the training camp, although The League did prefer those who were able to fight and train alongside their partners. The camp started slowly, with the week and a half of travelling unofficially starting trainers off. They were judged and scored on the way they tackled problems, utilized team and/or leadership skills, and got along with each other. Members who tended to start petty fights or arguments were kept a close eye on and eventually discarded if their attitudes didn’t improve; they could have been the most powerful trainer in the world, but if they weren’t able to handle the stresses of travel, they couldn’t handle the stress of an Elite or Champion.

Ruby mentally reminded herself of these things as she followed Blake and the others around the facility they were currently in. She needed to not let her emotions get the best of her, she was here to battle after all! After dreaming of being an Elite Four member all her life, Ruby was proud of where she was now. At the mere age of nineteen, she’d managed to claw her way to the top of the leaderboard and stood amongst some of the strongest and most capable trainers in Remnant. Grinning to herself, catching Yang’s eye, she shot her sister a thumbs up. She would not let a petty argument with a snobby trainer get her down. She’d already made so many friends, and the training hadn’t even started yet!

-

Ruby stood across from Nora, hopping up and down with excitement. Before her, the short redhead seemed to be just as excited as she was, tossing up and catching a pokeball over and over again. “So, Ruby!” Nora called over, catching her pokeball decisively one last time before enlarging it with a feral grin. “Are you ready for the shock of your life?”

Feeling chills dance along her spine at the familiar rush of battle, Ruby loosened Jolteon’s pokeball while shooting a matching grin back at Nora. “Try and catch us first!”

The girls threw their pokeballs onto the field simultaneously, listening to the loud ‘pops’ echo throughout the stadium and watching the familiar flashes of light that signalled a summoned pokemon. As the pokemon materialized from their rest, Ruby noticed the familiar psychic barriers sliding into place silently as the scoreboard lit up. Blake stood behind a judge’s podium, fingers flying as she input data to bring up the two girls’ pictures and pokemon health gauges.

“Alright,” Blake called out as she made a few more taps, ensuring that she had safely downloaded both pokemon’s data from their pokeballs before the battle. “This will be a one-on-one match. The first trainer to recall their pokemon or have their partner fall below the halfway point in the health gauge loses. We’re ready whenever you are.”

Nodding at Blake and turning back to the battlefield, Ruby felt her smile widen when Nora’s partner materialized. It was a hulking Electivire, bigger than any Ruby had ever seen before. It let loose a happy roar, slamming its fists together and letting sparks arc across its body to try and intimidate Jolteon. The electric fox got in a ready position and snarled back, his own electric shocks dancing through his spiked fur. The pair hardly ever got the chance to battle other powerful electric types, so they’d have a field day with this match up.

Throwing her cape out to make it billow behind her, Ruby grinned as Jolteon received the unspoken signal and dashed forward. Electivire braced itself, knowing that it wouldn’t be able to dodge the lightning pokemon. Counting on Jolteon’s powerful hearing, Ruby snapped twice at her side before shouting, “Quick attack!”

The small fox’s already impressive speed doubled to the point where he was nearly invisible to the naked eye. Once he was within striking range, he leapt deftly into the air over Electivire’s head. The thunder pokemon’s blood red eyes followed Jolteon’s movements, tensing in preparation for the oncoming quick attack.

Jolteon’s paws suddenly sparked with electricity and he angled his back paws downward as he landed, crashing into the side of Electivire’s head roughly with the help of his quick attack. The large pokemon stumbled away from the move, rubbing his sore jaw with a feral grin that matched his trainer’s. The combined double kick and spark combo had met its mark squarely, pushing extra power into an already strong move.

“Oh ho ho!” Nora laughed, putting her hands on her hips as she watched Jolteon dance away from Electivire’s swiping fists. “You’ve got some tricks, I see. Well so do we! Bull charge!”

Nora’s pokemon immediately leapt into the air, curling in on itself and gathering electricity before allowing it to engulf its whole body. Landing on the ground with enough force to shake the battlefield horribly, sparks shot off of the large pokemon’s body and made their way towards Jolteon. As he danced around, happily absorbing the extra energy to combat the effects of the tremors, Electivire continued its move with angry blue sparks coursing across its fur.

“Watch out!” Ruby shouted, concerned her pokemon wasn’t paying attention to the behemoth in front of him. Nora’s bulldoze/discharge combo was deadly at the best of times, and only the fact that Ruby’s partner had Volt Absorb as his ability saved him from being heavily damaged. Jolteon yipped back comfortingly and shot a Swift attack at Electivire’s feet, hoping to trip the larger pokemon. It leapt nimbly out of the way of the stars, only for them to follow and give chase. 

“Use your own Swift, Electivire!”

Screeching to a halt Electivire turned and shot its own stars at Jolteon’s, momentarily causing dust to fly around the battlefield. The psychic barriers pulsated to signify that they had kept the power inside the field before fading away again. Ruby looked away from the barriers and towards the feuding electric types and grinned once Jolteon was nowhere in sight. 

“Shadow ball!” Ruby shouted, knowing Jolteon’s hearing was impaired when he was using Dig.

Electivire jumped away just before Jolteon could fire his second attack, but as the small fox opened his maw to let loose the ghost type attack, Electivire’s grin extended until his jaw was open and flames flew towards the jolteon. The fox yelped and fell to the ground, raising himself on strong legs and shaking his singed fur.

Glancing at Nora with raised eyebrows, the short redhead shrugged with a happy grin. “Y’never know when a little fire will come in handy. Low kick!”

“Toxic team!” Ruby hissed, wincing as Jolteon narrowly avoided a few savage kicks. If Electivire landed one more of his more physical attacks, Jolteon was through. They needed to slow Nora and her partner down. Her fox yipped back before running in a circle around the field, copies springing up every few seconds until even Ruby could barely keep track of her partner. Electivire rumbled slowly as its eyes darted around the field, blasting weak electric attacks at a few copies in search of the real one.

The jolteons then began running in no exact pattern, causing chaos on the field and making it harder for Electivire to aim its attacks. The real jolteon dug its way beneath Electivire as Ruby called out a few encouraging words to the fakes circling their opponent. Nora rolled her eyes and yawned then, stretching leisurely. “All right, I’ve had enough of this game of tag. Blast ‘em, baby!”

Letting out a deafening roar that had the small audience covering their ears, Electivire let loose a Discharge so powerful that the psychic barriers flared to life before it was even completed charging. Once the flashy move was done, and Electivire stood panting on the battlefield with the real Jolteon running in circles around him, Ruby grinned. Her partner had successfully hit Electivire with a Toxic while it was distracted with the clones, poisoning the pokemon badly and causing it to slow down.

Ruby hopped lightly in place, trying to conceal a shout of excitement. She’d always enjoyed mock battles, and getting to let loose like this, in an arena meant for champions, only heightened the experience. She glanced to the scoreboard quickly, trusting Jolteon to stay out of harm’s way for a few seconds. Electivire’s health was slowly inching towards the halfway mark thanks to the poison’s influence, with Jolteon’s was just shy of being three-fourths full. One more hit could end the battle in their favor, but it had to be quick before Nora thought of something.

Following Ruby’s gaze, Nora sighed and watched her pokemon’s hit points slowly begin the fade from green to yellow. “Guess we’ve got to give it our all, buddy. Giga Impact!”

Startling at such a powerful move being used so close to the end of a mock battle, Ruby grinned at Nora. “Then we will, too! Jolteon, Hyper Beam!”

Electivire roared, beating its fists against its chest as the pokemon was encompassed by a dull green light. It charged at Jolteon, wincing occasionally from the poison, but otherwise powering through with the command. At the other end of the field, Jolteon dropped his maw and inhaled roughly, bright orange energy gathering in front of his exposed fangs. Waiting for Electivire to be in a range where it couldn’t dodge, Jolteon fired off his Hyper Beam. The taller electric type roared in pain but continued its charge, slamming into Jolteon just as the scoreboard beeped to signify that one of the pokemon’s health points had fallen below the halfway mark.

Whipping her head to the side, Ruby exhaled a shaky laugh when she saw that Electivire’s HP had fallen beneath the halfway point just as Jolteon’s gauge hit yellow. If Jolteon had been even one second later, they’d have lost. Watching the psychic barriers fade away, Ruby ran onto the field and scooped up her tired partner. Burying her fingers in his fur and giggling at the weak electric sparks that jumped off, Ruby kissed the top of her pokemon’s head. “You did great, bud.”

Jolteon let out a small whine, licking Ruby’s cheek as he nearly vibrated from the leftover adrenaline coursing through his body. Startling when she heard the cheers of her companions, Ruby turned to regard the small crowd and waved at them shyly. When Ruby got in the zone, she forgot all about the crowd and the volume; it was all about battling. Looking over at Nora, who was talking to her electivire consolingly, Ruby rose (ha) from her crouched position and walked over with Jolteon in her arms. “That battle was amazing! Was it difficult to teach Electivire flamethrower, or did they somehow understand and master it the moment you downloaded the TM to their pokeball?”

Laughing, Nora patted her pokemon’s arm, unphased at the small sparks of electricity that bounced off at the contact. “It took a long time for her to understand the concept, I’m not gonna lie to you. She was only producing embers for a good few weeks, and Electivire was super irritated about it.” The thunder pokemon grumbled lowly, nodding along to her trainer’s words before demonstrating the aforementioned embers. She dropped open her jaw, inhaling gently before breathing out a few flickers of weak flames. They disippitated before they reached the ground, floating gently through the air as they eventually cooled and disappeared. As Ruby’s eyes followed the flames, intrigued by Nora’s training process, the shorter redhead stuck out her hand. Startling out of her reverie, Ruby glanced down before looking up at Nora’s friendly smile. “Thank you for the amazing battle, Ruby. I can’t wait to attend the training camp with you!”

 

“O-oh, it was no trouble at all! I learned so much, thank you for showing me your partner, Nora,” Ruby stuttered, bowing slightly at the other trainer. Turning to Electivire, Ruby bowed again before staring up at the behemoth in awe. “Electivire, you were amazing. Your control over your moves is absolutely awesome! Jolteon and I are honored to have gotten to battle with you.”

Chittering in agreement from his place in Ruby’s arms, Jolteon nimbly hopped onto the ground and continued yipping and whining up at the taller electric type. Electivire rumbled her thanks to Ruby, bowing slightly in the same manner that the trainer had done earlier before turning to Jolteon. The pair seemed to have a conversation, sending small volts of electricity back and forth at each other while maintaining steady eye contact.

“By the way, Ruby?” Nora called, gaining the younger girl’s attention once more. “You called Electivire ‘they’ before you spoke to her. Why was that?”

Startled that Nora had noticed that, Ruby poked her index fingers together nervously. She didn’t want the redhead to think her reasoning was weird, but she wanted to be honest, too! “Well, I usually call all pokemon by gender neutral pronouns before I learn their preferred pronouns. S’just, sometimes it’s really hard to tell with them. I don’t wanna accidentally offend anyone, y’know?” She finished, glancing at Nora with a sheepish smile. “Sorry if you think that’s weird… our dad raised Yang and I to always respect pokemon, even with stuff like this.”

Once Nora had been quiet for a few seconds, Ruby glanced up and was surprised when she saw that the other trainer was beaming at her. “I never thought of it that way. Maybe I’ll start that up, too!” Laughing, Nora tugged Ruby down into a headlock and ruffled her hair. “C’mon, squirt. Let’s hop off the field so other people can battle!”

Coughing at the strong grip, Ruby choked out a small “I’m taller than you,” as she was dragged to the stands. Passing by Blake, who had a small smile on her face as she wiped the scoreboard clear, Ruby let a small smile slip onto her face. Glancing behind her to see Electivire walking over with Jolteon in her arms with electricity still arcing between them, the smile widened just a bit.

She couldn’t wait to get to the camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Here's chapter 2 of PKMN. I hope y'all enjoy, and if you do, consider donating to my ko-fi: ko-fi.com/C0C1IL2C  
> It really helps me out as a poor college student. If you happen to wanna donate more than that, you can comment below and I'll link my paypal. Thanks for checkin this out!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I've been working on this AU on and off for the past few months, and I'm super stoked to finally be able to release it to the world. I don't own RWBY or Pokemon, just the story idea and writing. Thank you all so much for the support you gave me on my whiterose week story, it meant the world to me.  
> This piece will be a long, slow burn fic with the primary couple focus being whiterose (as my fics always are). There will be bumbleby, arkos, and renora along with other minor relationships featured. The main purpose of this story is, well, the story so I apologize for it being a little short on the romance for a while.  
> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and make me wanna work harder and faster. My tumblr is octoputhy if you have any questions about this AU- I have a WHOLE LOT planned that hasn't been divulged yet and may not be divulged for a good while.


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